Once you have written down these bare minimum expenses, come back and we'll continue so you can take your frugal footsteps to finding freed-up money.

Which leads to the next footstep...

Frugal Footstep #2...

Start seeking to free up money in everyday spending.

The first place you can start freeing up money is in the grocery store. Our grocery link on this page gives great tips on how to do this.

Once you consciously honor your dollar in the grocery store, it isn't unusual for our followers to cut the grocery bill in half.

The second place to free up money is in daily habits. This could be as simple as the morning coffee run, or eating out. These two habits add up very quickly.

Take a look at your spending statements (debit cards, credit cards, check register) and add up how much is spent in daily habits. By simply abandoning one, you are now finding freed up money that you can use to leverage in your favor.

Frugal Footstep #3...

Wipe out debt.

If you have debt, you want to focus using your "freed-up money" to wipe it out. Some people will pose the argument that there is a such thing as "good debt." This has vastly changed since the beginning of the recession.

Many people with "good debt" ended up hitting financial rock bottoms due to debt.

Simply ask yourself the question, if someone were to offer you to wipe out your debt for you, would you take it?

Silly question. But sometimes the obvious around financial matters become clouded when debt is used to acquire material possessions (and perhaps more clouded when it's used to acquire investments).

If you have debt, wipe it out so you can focus on the next frugal footstep...

Frugal Footstep #4...

Build your Paycheck Extension Account.

Your paycheck extension account (a term borrowed from The Lavish Cheapskate) is a savings account, or money management account that is liquid (i.e.- it isn't penalized when you withdraw it) and is used for the sole purpose of how long you can live without a paycheck. Once you've done Frugal Footstep #1-- Identifying your are-minumum, you now know what you need to sustain your life each month. Build your account based on this number.

You can also use this account as an "emergency fund." Many experts have suggested an emergency fund, but the Paycheck Extension Account can serve this purpose as well. This enables you to take care of emergencies without racking up debt.

The goal is to immediately replenish this account if you do use it in this fashion.